It predicts 199 additional cases of acute bronchitis a year, 62 added emergency room visits from respiratory distress annually and a total of 16,819 missed work days per year

Published Oct 2, 2018 at 2:50 AM

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In this Sept. 19, 2013 file photo, automobile traffic flows over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. An official government environmental analysis found that President Donald Trump's weakening of pollution and fuel-efficiency standards for new cars would lead to more illnesses and deaths.

An official environmental analysis by the government found that as many as 299 premature deaths annually by mid-century would be the result of President Donald Trump's weakening of pollution and fuel-efficiency standards for new cars, NBC News reported.

Additionally, the proposed change in standards, which rolled out in August, would cost Americans nearly 17,000 days of work a year, due to increased illnesses. The emissions rule would do nothing to rein in the potentially catastrophic global warming either, according to the analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The likely negative health impacts from allowing more pollution are outlined in a chart deep in the NHTSA’s environmental impact statement. It predicts 199 additional cases of acute bronchitis a year, 62 added emergency room visits from respiratory distress annually and a total of 16,819 missed work days per year. The premature death total of 299 annually would come under one predictive model, while another model suggests premature deaths would top out at 134 a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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